Bathing suit



C. L. MARTIN BATHING SUIT Nov. 20, 1934.

Filed April 28, 1932 Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES ApplicationApril 28, 1932, Serial No. 608,098-

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in beach or bathing suits and ithas for its object the provision of a one-piece garment of the typedesignated having no back above the waist line,

permitting the complete exposure of the back of the wearer to the airand sun for the purpose of acquiring a tan, and at the same time beingso constructed that when worn, the front portion is stretched bothlongitudinally and transversely in the zone of the breasts, functioningas a brassiere in supporting the bust.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a one-piecebathing suit having the trunk portion belt-supported at the waist, andhaving the upper part adapted to clothe the front only of the body,terminating laterally in substantially longitudinal under-arm edgesextending to the belt line and having shoulder straps extendingrearwardly of the arms and a divided cross strap bridging the rearportions of said shoulder straps, the parts of which cross strap areunited by a button or other equivalent means and holding the shoulderstraps in place,

the cross strap being capable when unbuttoned, of being thrown back soas to leave the entire back of the wearer bare and to prevent themarring of the tan by a streak of lighter shade which would otherwise beleft beneath the cross strap.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the followingspecification, and throughout the several figures of which the samecharacters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the front of the bathing suit;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the backless feature;

Figure 3 is a cross section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 4; and

Figure 4 is a rear view of the bathing suit. Referring now in detail tothe several figures,

the numeral 1 represents a bathing suit preferably of elastic knitfabric, having the lower part or trunks 2 of usual construction, withbelt' arms, there being no back po'rtion to the bath ing suit except inthe form of the shoulder straps 5 and 6 and the divided cross strap 7,the parts of which emanate from the shoulder straps overlapping, beingheld together between the shoul- 5 ders by a button 8 or other suitablefastening means. I

The upper portion or body 9 is characterized by the fact that not onlydo the arm holes descend to a lower level than the neck opening, 5 s

but the elasticity of the fabric permits the shoulder straps to draw thefabric rearwardly beneath the arms as at 10, stretching the bathing suittransversely in a zone which overlies the breast, performing thefunction of a brassiere in 7 supporting the bust. The elevated relationof the indentation of the neck to that of the arm holes also provides anuncut front area above the level of the lower edges of the arm holeswhich through the intermediary of the shoulder 7 straps, distributes thepull of the shoulder straps acquire a tan over the entire area of theback above the waist line. Since it is however, objectionable to havethe uniformity of this tan marred by the light untanned streak whichnormally would be formed beneath the cross strap 7, the latter can beunbuttoned and thrown back or tucked beneath the shoulder straps so asto expose an unbroken expanse of the skin to the air or the suns rays. 7

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be apreferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it is obvious thatthose skilled in the art that certain tolerances in the shape andconstruction of the bathing suit are permissible without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

I claim:-

One-piece elastic bathing suit comprising a trunks portion, belted atthe waist line, and a body portion emanating from the frontsemicircumference only of the trunks portion, and 110 terminatinglaterally substantially at the sides of the body, said body portionbeing provided with integral shoulder straps extending to the backforming arm holes, a ,brassire area having its upper boundary defined bya circumferential line joining the bottoms of said arm holes andphysically determined when the bathing suit is distended by the body bybeing the line of demarcation between a laterally stretched area and anarea immediately above, not so greatly stretched,

the body portion being provided with a neck indentation cut to a higherlevel than the bottoms back, intermediate the tops and bottoms of thearm holes for holding them in place.

. CHARLES LEWIS MARTIN.

